PETROLEUM & GAS

EXPLORATION

HISTORICAL OVER
VIEW OF PETROLEUM

Hubberts peak refers to world production of

1.

Food

2.

CO2

3.

Oil

4.

Copper

The time scale relevant for oil formation is know as

1.

Geologic time

2.

Paleologic time

3.

Neologic time

4.

Hammer time

The Prize
In 1970, several major
US oil companies paid
the government millions
of dollars for oil-drilling
rights off the coast of
Oregon and Washington
They drilled three holes,
then abandoned the
operation, losing millions
of dollars

What went wrong?

They forgot the story about the Texas county that produced oil after 30 dry
holes were drilled
They did not listen to the economists telling them that the amount of oil
discovered depends on the number of dollars spent on the search
Environmentalists were better organized in Oregon and Washington than
anywhere else
There was really bad news in those three holes
All/None of the above

The Magic of Petroleum

Outline
I. Where does petroleum
come from?
II. What do we get from oil?
III. How much oil do we use?
IV. Where do we get our oil?
V. Strategic National
Resource

Where does petroleum come from?

What is petroleum?
Petroleum: A general term for all
naturally occurring hydrocarbons
(hydrogen + carbon)
Solid Hydrocarbons: Asphalt
Liquid Hydrocarbons: Crude oil
Gas Hydrocarbons: Natural Gas:
methane, butane, propane, etc.

The simplest hydrocarbon is

Methane (CH4)

1. Source Rocks
Organic Matter
Sedimentary rocks rich in
organic matter
0.5 - 2% by weight

Most commonly microscopic

marine material, but it can
be land based material
Organic material cannot
decay too much
It has to keep its carbon

2. Transform organic matter

Add heat and pressure by burying it (Maturation)

3. Carrier beds
Oil on the move

Oil is less dense than water and will rise through the
fluid system of the surrounding rock
Carrier beds are rock layers that allow fluids to pass
through them
Ex: Sandstone

If petroleum stays buried, it can become post-mature

4. Traps
If nothing stops oil from rising, it will reach surface
Ex: The La Brea tar pits

Traps can be rocks that do not allow fluids to pass

through them, or folds and faults in the rock can trap
petroleum

5. Reservoir rocks
The oil needs to be trapped in a good place

A good reservoir rock is:

Porous: holes
Permeable: holes are
connected
so that its fluids can be
produced (removed from
them)

6. Proper timing

Timing between accumulation of

organic material, petroleum
maturation, migration, and trap
formation is vital

Review:

Where does petroleum come from?

1.

Source rocks rich in organic matter

2.

Transform the organic material with heat and pressure to into petroleum
(Maturation)

3.

Carrier beds that allow the generated petroleum to move

4.

Traps that keep the petroleum below ground

5.

Adequate reservoir beds from which the petroleum can be extracted

6.

Proper timing of events 1-5

The author of the article argues that world oil

production will decline

1. By 2100
2. By 2050
3. By 2010
4. Never

II. What do we get from oil?

1 barrel = 42 gallons of
crude oil
83% becomes fuel
Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel,
heating oil, and liquefied
petroleum gas (propane
and butane)

17% other
Solvents, fertilizers,
pesticides, plastics

III. How much oil do we use?

US consumes 20,687,000 barrels
of oil each day (2006)
US motor gasoline consumption
9,253,000 barrels of oil each day
(2006)
World consumes 83,607,221
barrels of oil each day (2005)

Source: US Energy Information Agency

World Oil Consumption Predictions

IV. Where do we get our oil from?

Source: US Energy Information Agency

2006 US Imports by Country

Rank

Country

Millions of
barrels/day

Rank

Country

Millions of
barrels/day

Canada

2.4

11

Ecuador

0.3

Mexico

1.7

12

United Kingdom

0.3

Saudi Arabia

1.5

13

Norway

0.2

Venezuela

1.4

14

Brazil

0.2

Nigeria

1.1

15

Kuwait

0.2

Algeria

0.7

16

Netherlands

0.2

Iraq

0.6

17

Colombia

0.2

Angola

0.5

All Countries

13.7

Russia

0.4

Non-OPEC

8.1

10

Virgin Islands (U.S.)

0.3

OPEC

5.6

Source: US Energy Information Agency

Top World Oil Producers, 2005*

(OPEC members in underlined italics)
Total Oil Production**
Rank

Country

(million barrels/day)

Saudi Arabia

11.1

Russia

9.5

United States

8.2

Iran

4.2

Mexico

3.8

China

3.8

Canada

3.1

Norway

3.0

United Arab Emirates

2.8

10

Venezuela

2.8

11

Kuwait

2.7

12

Nigeria

2.6

13

Algeria

2.1

14

Brazil

2.0

Reserves vs. Resources

Reserves are natural resources that have already been discovered and can
be exploited for profit today
Resources are deposits that we know of (or believe to exist), but are not
exploitable today
Example: oil reserves ~1.2 trillion barrels, oil resources ~2 trillion barrels

World Supply and Demand

86.0

Millions of Barrels of oil

84.6

84.6

85.0

84.9
84.5

83.7

84.0

84.3

83.1

83.0

82.3

82.0
81.0
80.0

World Supply
World Demand

79.6 79.6

79.0
78.0
77.0
76.0
2003

2004

2005
Year

2006

2007

Coal

Current world use: 6x109 tons/year

Reserves of 1012 short tons (164 years at current
rates). Widely distributed in the U.S. (27% of world
reserves), Russia (17%), China (13%), Australia (9%),
etc.

Natural gas
Current world use: 1014 Scf/year
Reserves of about 6x1015 cubic feet (60 years),
resources of about 15x1015 cubic feet (150 years).

Oil

Current world use: 3x1010 barrels/year

Reserves of about 1012 barrels (30 years), resources
of about 3x1012 barrels (100 years).

Petroleum Exploration
Surface and subsurface geological studies
Seismic surveys
Gravity and magnetic surveys
Horizontal magnetic gradient
Helium content of soils

Questions?